According to Ansar Khan of MLive, the Detroit Red Wings and several other teams are trying to sign Victor Ejdsell from the Swedish second league. Chicago and Nashville are two of the other teams, with Ejdsell expected to sign soon. The 21-year old even visited Detroit, among other potential cities this week to see if there was a fit for him next year.
Ejdsell broke out this year playing in the Allsvenskan scoring 57 points in 50 games, the most in the entire league. His development into a “strong two-way center” was noted by Red Wings’ AGM Ryan Martin, who told Khan that his move this year to the middle helped his defensive game. The 6’5″ center is now listed at 220-lbs according to Khan, meaning he’s grown tremendously in the last year which might have something to do with his relative dominance this season. He definitely has the size to handle professional hockey, but it still remains to be seen whether he can contribute offensively at the next level.
The Hawks have been linked to basically every European free agent this spring as they try to refill their ranks with young players, while Nashville has a strong Swedish contingent that could help try to sway him. On that note, the Minnesota Wild actually have two players—Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin—from the same city as Ejdsell, one of whom played with him last season. It will be interesting to see who finally nabs him, if indeed he’s set to sign with an NHL club this summer.
Wings